December 28, 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

As required by law, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is hereby giving notice of cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) in certain benefit rates. These COLAs affect the dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) program. The rate of the adjustment is tied to the increase in Social Security benefits, effective December 1, 2017, as announced by the Social Security Administration (SSA). SSA has announced an increase of 2.0 percent.

The Postal Service gives notice of filing a request with the Postal Regulatory Commission to add a domestic shipping services contract to the list of Negotiated Service Agreements in the Mail Classification Schedule's Competitive Products List.

The Postal Service gives notice of filing a request with the Postal Regulatory Commission to add a domestic shipping services contract to the list of Negotiated Service Agreements in the Mail Classification Schedule's Competitive Products List.

The Postal Service gives notice of filing a request with the Postal Regulatory Commission to add a domestic shipping services contract to the list of Negotiated Service Agreements in the Mail Classification Schedule's Competitive Products List.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is correcting an announcement of effective date for a final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on December 18, 2017. In the last sentence of the Supplementary Information section of that document, the stated effective date of January 8, 2017 should have been January 8, 2018.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. International Trade Commission has received a complaint entitled Certain Solid State Storage Drives, Stacked Electronics Components, and Products Containing Same, DN 3282; the Commission is soliciting comments on any public interest issues raised by the complaint or complainant's filing pursuant to the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure.

This notification of determination announces the FRA Administrator's minimum annual random drug and alcohol testing rates for calendar year 2018.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announces a forthcoming public advisory committee meeting of the Neurological Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee. The general function of the committee is to provide advice and recommendations to the Agency on FDA's regulatory issues. The meeting will be open to the public.

The Commission is noticing recent Postal Service filings for the Commission's consideration concerning negotiated service agreements. This notice informs the public of the filing, invites public comment, and takes other administrative steps.

The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice (Notice) of receipt of an application (Application), filed on December 20, 2017, by Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC (Sabine Pass), requesting blanket authorization to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) in an amount up to the equivalent of 600 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas on a cumulative basis over a two-year period commencing on the date of first short-term export or January 16, 2018, whichever is later. The LNG would be exported from the Sabine Pass Liquefaction Project (Liquefaction Project) located in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, to any country with the capacity to import LNG via ocean-going carrier and with which trade is not prohibited by U.S. law or policy. To date, Sabine Pass has been granted four final long-term orders under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) to export LNG from Stages 1 and 2 of the Liquefaction Project in a volume equivalent to 1,006 Bcf per year of natural gas to countries with which the United States has not entered into a free trade agreement requiring national treatment for trade in natural gas (non-FTA countries), for a 20-year term.\1\ Additionally, Sabine Pass currently holds a short-term blanket authorization to export LNG in a volume equivalent to 600 Bcf of natural gas over a two- year period to any country with the capacity to import LNG via ocean- going carrier and with which trade is not prohibited by U.S. law or policy. Sabine Pass is requesting this authorization on its own behalf and as agent for other entities who hold title to the natural gas at the time of export. Sabine Pass's existing blanket authorization will expire on January 15, 2018.\2\ The current Application in effect is a request to extend Sabine Pass's current short-term blanket authorization issued in FE Docket No. 15-171-LNG for another two-year period beginning January 16, 2018 and extending through January 15, 2020.

The Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel (NTAP) of the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils (Councils) will hold a meeting.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. International Trade Commission has determined not to review an initial determination (``ID'') (Order No. 9) of the presiding administrative law judge (``ALJ'') granting complainant's motion for summary determination of a violation of section 337. The Commission also requests written submissions regarding remedy, bonding, and the public interest.

This document corrects technical and typographical errors in the proposed rule that appeared in the November 28, 2017 issue of the Federal Register titled ``Medicare Program Contract Year 2019 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage, Medicare Cost Plan, Medicare Fee-For-Service, the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs, and the PACE Program''.

FMCSA announces that the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) has requested an exemption on behalf of its members from the requirement that motor carriers and their drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) use an electronic logging device (ELD) to record the driver hours-of-service (HOS). ARA states that the ELD requirement imposes undue economic and other burdens on its member retailers and distributors of farm-related products and services. It asserts that ELDs fail to properly record the complex HOS data, are not properly certified by the FMCSA, and do not provide appropriate cyber-security safeguards. ARA also asserts that ELDs will not function properly in many locations in rural America because of poor internet and cellular connectivity. ARA states that the operations of its members under exemption from the ELD requirements will achieve a level of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be achieved absent the proposed exemption. FMCSA requests public comment on ARA's application for exemption.

DoD is making technical amendments to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to provide needed editorial changes.

DoD is issuing a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to add Latvia as a qualifying country.

In this document, a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) seeks comment on a number of actions aimed at removing unnecessary regulatory barriers to the deployment of high-speed broadband networks. The FNPRM seeks comment on pole attachment reforms, changes to the copper retirement and other network change notification processes, and changes to the section 214(a) discontinuance application process. The Commission adopted the FNPRM in conjunction with a Report and Order and Declaratory Ruling in WC Docket No. 17-84.